My spine straightened. Even if it was…I would endure it. I would endure anything he threw at me, just to spite him.
Ludayn helped me dress quietly and quickly. As she did, I couldn’t quite help but study her mouth—trying to spot her fangs and failing—and the way her right wing dragged on the ground. I tensed when her yellow eyes flickered up to mine as she inspected the front of the dress. She was dressed in sleek blue trousers and a simple white top, metal shimmering beads sewn into the neckline. Her clothes were well made and well pressed. Neat and orderly.
Her midnight-blue hair was braided down her back today. Female Kylorr were much, much smaller than the males. Ludayn and I were nearly equal in height, and there was a willowy grace to her movements, despite her noticeable limp. I wanted to ask what had happened but thought it might be considered rude.
Still…
“Can I ask you something?”
She cocked her head to the side as she tried to smooth a wrinkle from the blue silk and failed. This was one of my nicer dresses. One of my favorites because it was, perhaps, my prettiest one. A sheath of light sky-blue silk, though one meant for evening dinner parties with visiting lords and ladies, not morning meals with my—terrifying—Kylorr husband.
“Yes?”
“How often do you need to feed?”
The question was steady and careful, and I waited with bated breath. Ludayn’s yellow eyes pinned me in place.
“How often do you eat, Kylaira?” she asked.
“Every day,” I said quietly. “Multiple times a day.”
“For us, it is the same, though we can go longer stretches if necessary,” she replied, freezing my heart in my chest. Multiple times a day?
Aghast, I bit my lip, my gaze straying past her shoulder to look out the window. The view was beautiful in the morning light, I realized belatedly, and I couldn’t find it in me to enjoy it.
Changing the subject, I asked softly, “Is that a lake or a sea?”
Ludayn followed my gaze. “That is the Silver Sea. It stretches north, even beyond the border. We share it with the Kaazor.”
“The Kaazor?” I asked quietly. Was that a place? Or a people? I knew so little about the Kylorr—about their planet, Krynn—that it made me restless. Frustrated. I wanted to rectify it immediately, and I wondered if there was a library or if I would have access to the Quadrant’s databases.
Or would I simply be locked away, taken out for my husband’s feedings—like a bird in a gilded cage—as I feared he intended?
“Yes. We should leave. The Kyzaire does not like to wait.”
Unconsciously, my fingers trailed up the column of my neck as I followed behind Ludayn, who led me out of my bedroom, out of my rooms, and into the hallway.
I could still feel the indentation of his fangs, the bruising ache when I pressed there. Was I to be covered in bite marks for the rest of my natural life, feeling the sting of breaking flesh and the memory of his scent and the maddening throb between my thighs with every one of his pulling, deep draws?
We passed keepers as we ventured to the lower floors, but I hardly saw them, though they paused in their tasks to make way, inclining their heads in small nods of recognition. Ludayn traced the familiar path back down to the entrance and out onto the back terrace. It was a bright, pleasantly warm day. This time of year, the Collis was beginning to cool, making way for the winter season. But on Krynn, it felt like summer. Warm and balmy.
Instead of cutting down to the courtyard—where we’d emerged from the transport tunnel yesterday—she guided me alongside the back of the house, going up another set of short stairs to our right and journeying down an open-air hallway, framed by rounded arches, which revealed a stunning view of the Silver Sea to our left, glittering in the sunlight.
I’d never thought a place could be more beautiful than the Collis. Than home.
Then again, I’d never thought to be the bride of a Kylorr and living on Krynn of all places, I added silently to myself.
The covered path led to a large, half-circle terrace that had a wonderful, unobstructed view of the sea. The same indigo blooms and curving, black vines from the courtyard spilled over the white stone banisters. They desperately needed a trimming, to cut back the dead, rotting weight piling on the ground, but it was still a lush and beautiful sight.
And it was there that Azur sat.
At a small table, seated in a chair that had cutouts for his relaxed wings. There were four seats in total, all surrounding the white stone table, its rounded edges smoothed from age and use, just like the rest of this place.
Azur’s eyes flitted to me, tearing his gaze away from the Halo tablet, which he had a lazy grip on. His other hand lifted and he beckoned Ludayn forward when she paused on the steps leading up to the small, private terrace, dipping her head in a small bow.
My heart sped, but I squared my shoulders as I approached. Strangely, I felt placid seeing him this morning, considering last night. Considering the feeding, the confusing and alarming sensations that it had brought to the surface, the snap of my temper and fear in the aftermath, and the mortifying knowledge that he’d seen me break down…I felt resigned.
Azur’s gaze was pinned on me, tracking me as I took a seat opposite him, the farthest seat I could take from him. He looked deceptively relaxed, leaning back in his chair…and was that tea? His hand curled around a small, black, glossy cup, and he watched me over its rim as he lifted it to his lips.
Ludayn seemed to melt away, leaving without a word. Until it was just the two of us on this bright, sunny morning, on this beautiful terrace that was spilling with blooms and greenery.
And I could enjoy none of it.
Sitting tall, holding myself tightly, I squeezed my fingers in my lap, eyeing the Kylorr across from me. We stared. And the longer we stared, the more I remembered the heat of his body pressed against me, the unyielding thickness of his cock at my back, and the wet, slick sounds as he’d drunk from me.
The rough tumble of his surprised groan against my flesh.
My cheeks reddened and I squeezed my fist tight. So tight that I purposefully dug my fingernails into my palm, hoping the sting would help focus my thoughts.
“Why am I here?” I finally asked, shaken from the silence.
Azur’s brow lowered. His horns looked especially sharp this morning. I saw his gaze dip to the bite mark on my neck.
Without thinking, I’d pulled my hair back into its usual bun before Ludayn had entered my rooms this morning. Which meant, with the dress she’d chosen—a dress I hadn’t had the energy to protest—it left my neck on full display. The warm breeze drifted over my exposed collarbones and stroked down the valley of my breasts, given the dramatic cut of the neckline.
Alarm went through me when I saw his catlike pupils dilate. I swallowed, highly aware that he studied every movement as my throat bobbed.
Then his gaze returned to his Halo tablet, his claws curling around it tighter. He had a privacy filter on his tablet, so I couldn’t see what held his attention or what he was working on.
“You need to eat, don’t you?” he asked, the dark drawl of his voice making my breath hitch.
He was in an unreadable mood. Cold and detached, and yet…he wasn’t being cutting or cruel. Not like last night.
“You think I will starve you into submission?” he asked, a dangerous glint in his voice when he peered up at me again.
Or maybe not. He was still testy.